Three Texas A&M football takeaways after BGSU escape: Defense played better than it felt
I think most Aggie fans got heartburn from the fact that the team just allowed 20 points to a G5 opponent; however, this is no ordinary G5 offense (as we were repeatedly reminded by the announcers). In reality, the defense played a lot better than it may have felt to Aggie fans.
Outside of two explosive plays, the Ags were really, really sound down in and down out. They filled gaps well and allowed nearly nothing on the ground. Even with a 40 yard touchdown on a reverse, the Falcons only averaged 3.9 YPC on the evening, and didn’t break 100 yards rushing.
A&M also held BGSU to a mere 25% on third down—after the Falcons went 7-14 against Penn State in Happy Valley. That piece shouldn’t be underplayed either.
In total, though, there’s some stuff still to be cleaned up. A&M did a great job keeping the lid on explosive plays last week against UF, and it showed up. They need to harness that effort going forward.